


Much Ado About Shannon

by wordsofaphoenix (encaton19)



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: M/M, Past Relationship(s), eddie's ex, so i fixed it a little, this episode was painful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 14:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16477196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/encaton19/pseuds/wordsofaphoenix
Summary: When Eddie wants to put Christopher into a new school, he has to deal with a face from the past.





	Much Ado About Shannon

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this in my documents was 'im salty so halloween episode fix-it' which is pretty much the fic  
> Also, I don't know much about Shannon's characterization so it was mostly just me villanizing her oop  
> Actually a lot of this is OOC and yeah it's a little rushed but I wanted to get this out so I could write a halloween fic which isn't actually going to happen

There was a lot Eddie was prepared for when going to see the new school. He was prepared for strict teachers and valuing education over happiness and things of that sort. Unfortunately for him, he was prepared for the wrong things. The school was great, beyond anything he could’ve hoped for.

The thing he wasn’t prepared for, however, was needing Christopher’s mom to do an interview in order to get him enrolled. Shannon hadn’t been present in either of their lives in nearly three years and yet she still had power over them both.

All Eddie wanted was to put Christopher into a good school, offer him the best chance at a normal life. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. 

When he gets home from the school, all he wants to go is take a hot shower. He wants to wash himself of the pain caused by thoughts of Shannon. It’s not that he particularly misses her for himself, but rather for his son. He was there for all the tears and questions about when mama was coming back. He was there to convince Christopher that it wasn’t his fault. The happy kid he always sees now wasn’t always so cheery and it pains Eddie to think about him like that again. 

When Carla pulls up to drop him at the house, Eddie knows the shower will have to wait. The blinds are pulled open, showing Christopher’s eager expression. The grilling will begin the second he steps in the door, he’s sure of it.

“Hey, buddy,” he says, crouching down to hug Christopher. He can practically feel his son vibrating with questions.

“Hey,” a voice comes from the doorway and Eddie grins at him, already feeling a little less terrible about the Shannon situation. He stands back up and Buck comes over, pressing a kiss against his temple in greeting. “How was the school?” He questions and Christopher nudges at him like a puppy, obviously waiting for the answer to that very question.

“Hey, Superman? You mind giving Buck and me a minute to talk? I’ll tell you all about the school, I just want to ask him something first.” Christopher doesn’t lose the goofy grin, just nods and heads off to his room to play.

When Eddie turns to glance at Buck, the other looks so worried he almost wants to laugh. “Everything okay?” He asks, brow furrowed.

“No,” Eddie admits, taking a seat at the island. He buries his face in his hands for a moment to just breathe. “It’s Shannon.” When he glances back up at Buck, he’s able to see the recognition pass over his face. They’d only talked about it once, back when they’d first started dating months ago. The topic of ex’s had been brought up, which of course led to the topic of Christopher’s mother. Buck knew they were still married, knew Eddie didn’t love her anymore, doesn’t even like her much most of the time.  
Buck takes a seat at the counter next to him and Eddie begins to speak, “...it was all going great until then. I was ready to throw my money at them, y’know. But of course the parent interview. They need both of us. Shannon, I mean. I don’t even know if her number still works!” He can feel the panic rising in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

If he wants Christopher to have the best, he’s going to need to call her. Otherwise, he’d have to settle for second best or third best and Eddie doesn’t want that for his son. What parent does, when the number one school is on the table?

“Hey, hey, easy. Just breathe.” Buck rubs his back and Eddie takes deep breaths until he doesn’t feel as if he’s drowning. “You can’t just explain the situation?” he asks, which was the first thing Eddie thought of as well.

“No, since we’re still married, she isn’t dead, and I have no proof of custody for him, they need her there.” Eddie sighs. “Just more of that bureaucratic red-tape, I guess.”

“So what’re you going to do?” Buck asks. Eddie takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly to delay the coming admission.

“I want to do the best I can for Christopher. I’m going to have to call her.”

 

The doorbell rings, the common sound is ominous and frightening. Eddie takes a deep breath, bracing himself against the sink. Buck comes up behind him and wraps his arms around Eddie’s torso.

“It’ll be fine,” Buck promises, tucking his chin into the crease of Eddie’s neck. “Should I leave?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Stay close. Please.” He doesn’t like to be weak but he doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Emotional support and all. The doorbell rings again. Buck presses a kiss against the back of Eddie’s neck and retreats to the living room, leaving Eddie to get the door alone, which is exactly what Eddie meant.

He takes a deep breath before opening the door. As expected, Shannon stands at the doorway. Her hair is shorter than last time. Eddie’s breath stutters.

She rolls her eyes but there’s a teasing grin. “Finally. Hey Eddie.”

“Shannon.” He just stares for a moment, a little weirded out to see her on his stoop, “Oh, right. Come in.” She steps gingerly through the doorway and he swings the door closed. Her eyes immediately latch onto Buck, lounging on the couch, scrolling through his phone almost too casually.

Eddie rolls his eyes fondly, knowing Buck was listening to them, making sure Eddie was okay. Shannon’s eyes are narrowed, staring at Buck as though he’s an intruder into their life rather than the other way around.

“Who’s this? I thought it was going to be a private conversation.” Buck glances up from his phone, the picture of innocence and nonchalance, the ass.

“This is Buck. He’s my coworker--”

Shannon cuts him off, “This is a personal conversation. You said it was about Christopher. We don’t need your coworkers.” Now Buck’s eyes are narrowed. Buck has a short fuse. He’s extremely level headed in most situations, has to be in order to be a firefighter in LA. Given the right circumstances though, he goes from 0-100 real quick. This would be one of those circumstances.

Eddie’s regretting this more and more as the seconds tick past. “Shan, this is Buck. My coworker and my boyfriend.” This stops Shannon in her tracks and she turns back to stare at him.

“Your...boyfriend?” She sounds incredulous, and Eddie can’t blame her. He had never actually told her he was bi when they were together. It never came up. “You have a boyfriend.” It isn’t a question, Eddie knows, despite the uptick of her voice.

He nods as Buck comes to stand at his side, brushing his hand against the small of his back in a show of solidarity. “I have a boyfriend.”

Buck offers a hand to Shannon, and to anyone who doesn’t know him as well as Eddie does, they wouldn’t be able to see how fake his smile is, the tightening at the corners of his eyes. “You must be Shannon.” She shakes his hand, looking insincerely apologetic.

“Nice to meet you, Buck. I’ve always wanted to meet my husband’s boyfriend.” Buck winces, hand tensing against Eddie’s back. Eddie, at this moment, hates her. Almost as much as he did when she left, abandoning Christopher. Yes, Buck knows they’re still married and it doesn’t usually bother him since he knows they aren’t together. But Eddie knows it must hurt for him to think he’s second in any way.

“Okay, moving on,” Eddie clears his throat, drawing their attention and ending the standoff between the two of them. He wasn’t expecting them to get along, didn’t really even want them to meet, but he did need Buck to be there as support, someone on his side. “I actually need your help.” Buck and Eddie settle on the loveseat and Shannon sits in the chair across from them. “I want to send Christopher to Crossroads.”

“The school?” Buck mutters ‘no the train tracks’ under his breath and receives a well-aimed elbow to the side. But the comment does help Eddie to relax a little, which he assumes was Buck’s goal.

“Yeah. I’ve been talking with Carla--”

Shannon interrupts again, “Your girlfriend?”

Buck snorts and Eddie sends him a look before continuing, “My...babysitter, of sorts.”

Shannon looks confused so Eddie continues, “Carla can get Christopher in at a discounted rate. The only issue is, for him to be accepted--and he will be, they love him--they need to conduct parent interviews.”

“...which is where I come in,”

“I did talk to them but because we’re still legally married,” Buck shifts uncomfortably next to him and Eddie threads their fingers together, rubbing his thumb across the back of Buck’s hand, “You have to attend.”

“Eddie...I don’t know…” Shannon starts, looking at her hands

“I’m going to give you guys a minute,” Buck says, standing. They both listen as the back door squeaks open and closes with a faint click.

“Shannon. I know you had your reasons for leaving. I get that you were having a rough time and I’m sorry I wasn’t the husband you needed me to be,” Eddie leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees.

“But I’m not going to say I don’t blame you for it, because frankly? I do. You said you loved Christopher. I get that you don’t want to be in his life and I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t really want you to be. But this is your chance to prove that you care. Help me get him into this school so he can have the best possible life.”

Shannon smiles then, and Eddie’s a mess of emotions. He misses what they had, though he doesn’t love her anymore, which is confusing, to say the least. Shannon stands and Eddie does the same, ”Alright. I’ll do the interview.”

“Thank you,” Eddie breathes, and feels as if a huge weight has lifted off his shoulders.  
“Do...do you think I could maybe see him? Christopher?” Shannon sounds timid, nervous for the first time since she walked through the door.

Eddie grimaces, “Shan…” he shakes his head.

“Yeah, you’re right. It was stupid. Do you have maybe a picture of him, though?” She looks so hopeful and though Eddie wants to say no, he knows that would be cruel. Instead, he heads to the kitchen, aware of Shannon taking in every detail as she follows him. “I have one in my wallet.”

While it isn’t the only wallet picture of Christopher, he wants to be a little mean and give her one with Buck too. It’s a picture of all three of them at the station. Christopher had just been guided down the fireman’s pole at the station and Bobby had thankfully managed to snap a picture of the boy grinning, eyes crinkled with joy. Buck and Eddie were leaning against the pole, looking down at him with almost identical expressions of adoration. It may be Eddie’s favorite picture. 

He watches Shannon stare at the photo, her finger tracing the outline of Christopher’s face, and he feels almost guilty for not letting her see him. He reminds himself it’s her fault in the first place and he shouldn’t feel guilty for her decisions, but it still hurts a little. He pretends to not notice the tear that runs down her cheek before she can wipe it away.

“So,” She collects herself, “What do I need to do?”

They spend a few more minutes discussing the whens and wheres of the interview. There’s no more mention of their past relationship, of Buck, of Shannon seeing Christopher. It’s strictly business.

 

The second the door is closed behind Shannon, Eddie slumps against it. Buck is right there, wrapping Eddie in his arms like he’s going to break.

Eddie takes a shaky breath, fingers curling into the hem of Buck’s shirt, using the scent of it to keep himself grounded. While it wasn’t as terrible as he was expecting—honestly, he didn’t know what he was expecting—it was still hard to see her again. It brought up memories of Christopher watching at the window for his mother to come home, crying everyday for weeks when she never did.

“You okay?” Buck asks, pulling away and tilting Eddie’s chin up to look at him.

Eddie shrugs feebly. He isn’t not okay, but he’s not great either. Buck seems to get it, tugging Eddie back in. “I hate this.” Eddie states, talking into Buck’s shoulder. “I hate that she’s getting involved in Christopher’s life again.”

“Hey, after this you never have to see her again,” Buck reminds him.

Eddie sighs, shaking his head as he pulls away from Buck. “What if, when we get divorced, she wants to take custody of Christopher.” Buck blinks, looking stupefied.

“I hadn’t even thought about you getting divorced.” Buck snorts and Eddie chuckles a bit.

“You tellin me you never thought about dating someone that doesn’t have a wife?” He teases.

“I forget she exists as anything more than a birth-parent.” Buck admits, shrugging. “Speaking of which, she wouldn’t have a case for custody.” At the questioning look Eddie sends him, he rubs the back of his head, “I, uh, I once dated this lawyer chick with a shaky moral compass.”

Eddie furrows his brow, “What do you mean she wouldn’t have a case?” From what he’s seen, mothers usually get the kid.

“I mean, she left Christopher with you, right? Obviously she feels you’re a competent parent. And her leaving him doesn’t look so great, either. But hey, it won’t come to that.” It’s like Buck always knows what to say. There’s no logical reason that would make Eddie feel better, but it does.

“Thanks for putting up with my shit,” Eddie tilts his chin up and kisses Buck, who responds immediately in ernest, cupping Eddie’s cheeks and bringing the butterflies back to his stomach.

Buck breaks away but doesn’t go far, leaving his hands on Eddie’s cheeks, “It’s not shit to have emotions. Plus you helped me with Abby. Now, do you think Christopher is still at the park with Carla?”

“I don’t know, you want to find out?” Eddie asks, laughing at Buck’s puppy-like behavior.

He’s all but bouncing, “Can we all get ice cream too?”

Eddie groans but he’s smiling, “Yes, we can. I swear I have two kids, sometimes.”

Eddie knows he’ll never be prepared for everything, especially when it comes to Shannon, but he knows he’s safe at this moment with his little family of three.

**Author's Note:**

> I found this quote on tumblr and i think it's pretty obvious which one this is:  
> "Sometimes fanfiction is a love letter to the original canon, sometimes it’s just that one telegram that says “Fuck you. Strongly worded letter to follow”.


End file.
